Director Mark Tonderai Will Take On Day of the Dead Remake

Millennium Films has set Mark Tonderai to direct a modern-day retelling of the George Romero-directed cult zombie film Day Of The Dead. Tonderai, best known for House At The End Of The Street, wrote the script with Lars Jacobson.

In this new version, years after the zombie plague has wiped out most of Earth’s population, a group of scientists and survivors attempt to find a cure, and instead open Pandora’s box. The title was shopped at the recent AFM. Christa Campbell and Lati Grobman are producers. Avi Lerner, Trevor Short, Boaz Davidson and Terry Dougas are executive producers. Beth Bruckner is co-producer.

Millennium and Campbell Grobman Films are targeting a summer 2014 production. Romero directed the original film back in 1985, and Millennium first remade it in 2008 with Steve Miner directing Mena Suvari and Nick Cannon. They’ll start casting the new one soon.

George A. Romero confirmed that he had been approached to become involved with the remake, but declined.

“I’m not involved, but they’ve been trying to get me involved. Initially, they called my partner and I, and they asked to make the original script. Originally, I wrote a longer script for Day of the Dead, but it was too expensive and I had to cut it back. The result was the Day of the Dead that now exists. It wasn’t that different and a lot of the characters were still the same, but it was bigger and there were a lot of action sequences above ground.

They wanted to make it and that script is available on the internet. I said that I had no idea who owned the rights. Even though I never shot that movie, I knew that the rights were held by my ex-partner and I didn’t know where he sold the rights. Then they asked If I’d write a new script and I said I didn’t want to do that. It’s sort of “been there, done that.” The movie has already been remade and it was terrible.” Romero laughs.

The film was the third one in Romero’s zombie series and interest in the flesh eaters shows little sign of abating, with AMC’s The Walking Dead still killing in the cable ratings.